| Reading Recovery |
I grew up here in Virginia Beach, going to Linkhorn Park and First Colonial High. After graduating from William and Mary with a B.A. in Elementary Education, I went to Australia to teach. I taught there for 30 years, teaching Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade. Teaching and living in Australia was a wonderful experience. One of my sons still lives there and my other son now lives here and is going to VCU in Richmond. I started teaching at Cooke as a Reading Recovery Teacher in 2004 and I love it.
Reading Recovery is an early intervention program designed to help the lowest achieving First Grade children learn to use effective reading strategies so they can make accelerated progress and catch up with their peers. Reading Recovery stops the clock for many at-risk children by giving them a chance to succeed before they enter the cycle of failure that so many students experience even in their first year of school.
Developed by Marie Clay, a New Zealand educator and psychologist, Reading Recovery was first implemented in the United States at Ohio State University in 1984-85. Subsequent research has shown that through effective implementation of Reading Recovery, 85% of the lowest achieving First Grade children develop effective strategies for reading and reach average classroom levels. These children become independent readers with internal self-extending systems. Retention and learning disability placement are reduced throughout the system, making Reading Recovery an educationally sound, cost effective choice.
Reading Recovery is an individual tutoring program in which teachers meet with a child for 30 minutes each day outside the child's regular classroom. Although Reading Recovery lessons operate within a clearly defined framework, it is the teacher's decision making, building on what the child knows, and the instructional focus on strategies rather than isolated skills during each lesson that help students make accelerated progress in reading and writing. Lesson components consist of reading familiar stories; taking a running record on an introduced book; letter activity or word study; writing a short story; putting a cut-up sentence back together and reading a new book.
Parent involvement and nightly reading homework is a vital part to the program's success.
Literacy Groups
In addition, often first grade students may be identified to receive reading assistance in Literacy Groups. I take children from their regular classroom and provide additional instruction in reading and writing in small groups. |
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Cooke Elementary School
Alwyn Cameron
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